Nokia is planning on renaming their Nokia Maps to HERE Maps on their Lumia line of Windows Phone. The announcement will coincide with the revealing of the Lumia 520 and Lumia 720 Windows Phone tomorrow, here in Barcelona, during their 8:30am (local time) press conference.

The HERE Maps will be an update for existing Nokia Maps users and will start at version 3.2. The exact release of the software and any enhancements to the mapping system is currently unknown, though 3D detailed mapping via earthmine (acquired by Nokia) and routing via LiveSight may be on the list.

LiveSight is Nokia’s phrase for augmented reality in their mapping apps with City Lens being an example. Nokia’s Jo Harlo revealed the news that it was coming to Nokia Maps during the Lumia 920 announcement back in September:

"Once you have set the route in Nokia Maps, pull up the phone at any time to switch into augmented reality mode and see both the direction and the route as well as the points of interest."

Seeing as it’s been nearly five months since that announcement, it seems that Nokia Maps getting renamed to HERE Maps along with a new LiveSight feature would be apropos.

Nokia rebranding from Nokia Maps to HERE Maps should not be too surprising as they have been pushing towards that direction for quite some time now, including launching on iOS recently. Since that time, Nokia Maps has had numerous updates, any of which would have been prime for renaming. But perhaps the Finnish company has something bigger to reveal with version 3.2 and were holding off for Mobile World Congress. (That's just our hunch).

Lumia 720

In addition, confirmation of the Lumia 520 and Lumia 720 Lumia phones was also found via Help pages on Nokia’s India site. Searching on Nokia.com/in-en/ will bring up two pages with the devices, both pertaining to the new HERE Maps coming at some point in the near future.

Interestingly, the page reveals just how entry level the Lumia 520 as evidently that device does not feature a magnetometer (aka ‘compass’) making Nokia’s LiveSight something that device cannot use. It also confirms that LiveSight will be added to Nokia Maps aka HERE Maps.

I wonder if here maps will work better on Android and IOS than on WP?
The reason for my thoughts is that if you go to the here maps on the web its optimized for all browsers except Internet Explorer.
Try the 3D view on here.com when running Internet Explorer and get yourself a good. Laugh. And I thought that Nokia was a partner to Microsoft...

And here I thought a company couldn't pick a worse name then "Google Play" while its not as bad, Here maps is pretty close... Why is it so bad to use your name brand? That is the name that will continue. I have Nokia maps in a small tile so I personally don't care about the name.

They named it HERE maps so people on other OS can download it and use it, eventually they will switch the name back once enough people are using it I think, or to a name that sounds more cool. Many people run when they hear or see Nokia. Good marketing scheme imo, ya weird new name but its whatever.

Yeah, but it's kind of hard to get all excited about low end emerging market devices like the 520/720. Sure, that's where the bread and butter money will likely come from, for Nokia.
But for the press and wider public at MWC, it's a big fat 'who cares?'

That's the dumbest name ever! Especially for a app that's trying to help you leave here, and get somewhere else. They should have renamed it "Nokia Destination" or "Go Maps" or any if the thousands of names that sound better than "Here Maps"... Maybe this sounds good in Finland, but maybe they should consider other markets before they use stupid products names like "Lumia".. Seriously, I just tell people my phone is a Nokia L920,, never a Lumia 920.. It's embarrassing!! Lol!!!!!!

"Lumia" is Latin for "Lights". You fear people will think you have a brain? o_O
European languages (where English is included) have strong roots in Latin. So it's not really that stupid (I think in Finnish the word has another meaning too but the majority of people think of it as a Latin name).
I find names like "Xperia" (what the hell is that? Even for a contraction of the word "experience" is bad.) more idiotic. And don't even let me start with HTC names). At least "Lumia" conveys a message: "That that shines".

Listen smart guy. The average consumer doesn't give a rats ass what the meaning is, they want something that looks cool, and sounds cool. It doesn't matter what we as WP fans know about the devices because we aren't the average consumer. Sometimes being to smart can kill you in the end. Over thinking these things is never a good idea. "Xperia" has a ring to it. The X hints at power, and the rest hints at functionality, or intuitiveness.. Who gives a damn what it really means.. Droid, Bionic, Nexus, 8x, Titan, Galaxy, and Infuse all sound like powerful, capable devices, and yes these names appeal to both men and women.. MS, It's partners, and some WP fans need to face reality if they really want WP to take off in a big way. Give the general public what they want when they want it, and not a second later, give the products appealing designations, and advertise the shit out of it! Although I have to admit that it was thoughtful for Nokia to use the Lumia name because of its Latin meaning,, nobody cares if it doesn't sound good.. And, I am keeping in mind that what might sound good in one region might not sound good in the next. But, I do know that I've heard a lot of us Americans not agree that the name is effective enough. This isn't about if I'm scared that someone will think I'm smart,,child. If you think you're so smart then go show off your phone and say Lumia, and the most common reaction you will get is "What's that??"" It shouldn't be that way after two years. Get it right!! All of it!! And quit feeling smart..

Everyone has an opinion on the internet, that's cool. I don't have the problem with the Lumia name. The Here name sounds kind of corny, I agree. I think its called Here because it shows you what's around you "here". Now I'm getting confused lol. But you are right, nothing is cool about the word Here.

Your answer was unnecessarily rude and completely misguided.
Still, Nokia doesn't come up with names to appeal to Americans. Nokia comes up with names that are more "universal" and thinks Worldwide.
If "Lumia" doesn't cut it in America, well, then sure, they could call it something else. Just like "Opel" is called "Vauxhall" in Britain. Nokia decided not to do that.
And they decided to go for a less-obvious name. All those names you mentioned are pretty cliché. Ooooh a piece of technology with the name "Bionic". How totally original! "Titan" to convey the idea of a strong phone eh? Well, that's completely new. Never been done before! You know where such a name would go well in? A ship! Perhaps an unsinkable ship!
Nokia set the goal to do different. If they wanted to release something just like other brands they would have called it something like "Nokia Colossus" and release their phones in black and white. However, they decided they would make a difference, with different phones presented even in a larger variety of colours. And in that sense, Lumia fits very well.

As far as your remarks on the "giving the public what they want when they want", there I agree with you. But what public demands is from the software. And that's Microsofts problem, not Nokias.

That's not the point! The point is that these names don't sound "Cool" enough. I'm not saying they should use corny names, its just that they need to be better. Unnecessarily rude? You don't question my self esteem, and I won't go there.. Its that simple.. Grow some balls dude!!.. Now that was rude.. Lol!!

Give your self a break dude ,, Lumia do Rock just as a name ,, and You couldn't Imagine how popular it is in the Parts of Earth where i Live, hence, am one of many who Shows-off with there Lumias among friends and going exactly like " Hey this is my LUMIA !!! " , and the common reaction would be : "F**K , i need to get me one right Now" ........so ya

"Lumia" sounds like a economy car made in Mexico... Not a high tech gadget.. Disclaimer: I love Spanish, Latin, Mexican, Hispanic or whatever you want to call it, people, and I like tacos, so I can say what I want..
And, I love the ladies to... Nokia Chicas Grande 930 bitch! Lol!!

I hope they're going to fix the aerial data issue in the UK. After all the coverage on how brilliant Nokia's mapping data is I was disappointed to find that the aerial data is basically broken where I live in the UK and the issue seems to be quite widespread. You would think that Microsoft could give Nokia the data if they have data Nokia don't.

Up here in the Highlands if you want any kind of ariel or street level view your only choice is Google. Everything else is useless, though at least Bing maps does have some poor quality ariel, which is better than nothing. With Nokia positioning themselves as a location services company I'd hope they improve their ariel and street level coverage sharpish. As is I'm stuck with google maps. (streetview has been incredibly handy with my recent work)

Maps don't work that well in the us either. Of I'm on anything other than a major road, the GPS has me off to the side of the road by 50 ft, completely screwing things up. Other bugs too like showing me go in the opposite direction etc.

I think so too. Having augmented routing would be awesome. But I hope there will be even more improvements to the maps and drive App from nokia, like traffic avoiding and alternate routes and also being able to not only pointing out a route from A to B but also add more inbetween stops.

Not my first choice either, however, it does make sense not to use the Nokia name. It makes it far easier for them to sell it to other competing companies. HTC and Samsung et al would not be happy offering their customers Nokia Maps. It would not work. Call it something else and you allow companies to adopt it without acknowledging that a competitor has a better solution.

Do you really believe any company comes up with something without it being tested? Even if it were strictly in-house. There would still be debate and discussion like any big company. I for one like the name "Here". It makes sense to me.

They have been alluding to this name for a while now. Before the launch of windows phone, they said they were going to make the platform into the "here" platform, talking about their edge in navigation.

Has Google changed its name to "There Maps" or Apple to "Nowhere Maps". Come on Nokia Maps boosts so much confidence in the service. Anyone wanting for map service would type Nokia Maps and not "Here Maps.